No later than thirty calendar days after the petition has been filed, the Secretary of State will issue a statement of sufficiency or insufficiency. This statement indicates whether a sufficient number of valid signatures appear to have been submitted to certify the petition to ballot.

In the event that the Secretary of State fails to issue a statement of sufficiency or insufficiency within thirty calendar days, the petition will be deemed sufficient.

For additional information, see section 1-40-117, C.R.S.

1. Opportunity to Cure Insufficiency

If the Secretary of State issues a statement of insufficiency, the designated representatives may cure the insufficiency by filing an addendum to the original petition for the purposes of offering an additional number of signatures.

The addendum must be filed with the Secretary of State within fifteen days of the statement of insufficiency and no later than the applicable deadlines for filing an initiative petition.

Keep the petition filing deadline in mind. A cure addendum must be filed no later than three months before the election at which the initiative will be voted on.

If an addendum is filed, the Secretary of State will determine whether it cured the insufficiency found in the original petition. Within ten calendar days, the Secretary of State will issue a new statement of sufficiency or insufficiency.

If the addendum is insufficient, the proposed initiative will not be placed on the ballot.

2. Public Access to Filed Petitions

While the petition is being examined by the Secretary of State for sufficiency (a period of no more than thirty days from the date of submission), the petition will not be available to the public. After the Secretary of State has issued a statement of sufficiency or insufficiency, the petition will be available to the public. An addendum that is filed to cure an insufficiency will be reviewed by the Secretary of State for a period of ten days and will not be available for public inspection during that time.

For additional information, see sections 1-40-116(2) and 1-40-117(3)(b), C.R.S.

3. Protesting the Secretary of State's Determination

Any registered elector may appeal the Secretary of State’s determination of sufficiency or insufficiency by filing a protest in the Denver District Court.

The protest must be:

filed with the Court within thirty days of the statement of sufficiency or insufficiency;